CBS News is fact checking some of the statements made by speakers during the 2024 Republican National Convention, which is taking place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, through Thursday, July 18. On Tuesday, the theme is security, and the evening’s speakers include Kari Lake, who’s running for the U.S. Senate in Arizona, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice, also running for Senate, and top members of congressional leadership, including Speaker Mike Johnson, former primary opponent Nikki Haley and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Monday’s theme was the economy, so several of the statements checked relate to U.S. economic concerns. Former President Donald Trump made a surprise appearance at the convention Monday night.
CBS News is covering the RNC live.
Fact check on Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s statement that Biden, Harris opened border, allowing criminals to enter U.S.: False
GOP U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde: “Biden, with his ‘Border Czar’ Vice President Harris, opened our southern border, allowing criminals and terrorists to enter our country.”“
Details:
On immigration policies: President Biden has never endorsed or implemented an “open borders” policy. Mr. Biden has reversed a number of Trump-era immigration policies, including a program that required migrants to await their asylum hearings in Mexico, but the president has also embraced some restrictive border policies that mirror rules enacted by Trump. In June, Mr. Biden enacted a proclamation that has partially shut down asylum processing along the border. His administration also carried out over 4 million deportations, expulsions and returns of migrants since 2021, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
On immigration and crime: Some migrants who have entered the U.S. illegally through the southern border in recent years have been charged with serious crimes — this includes the suspect in the high-profile murder of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. But available studies show that undocumented migrants in the U.S. do not commit crimes at a higher rate than native-born Americans. Government statistics indicate that a small fraction of migrants processed by Border Patrol have criminal records in the U.S. or in other countries that share information with American officials.
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez